Cassie and I (Andrew) were both able to see the Disneyland 60th Anniversary offerings recently. With that in mind, we thought we’d send a few messages back and forth, reviewing the shows. Eventually, this series will end up with a large post with mini reviews of each show and tips on how to conquer Disneyland Resort during the 60th Anniversary. Today we’ll start this series by discussing the new nighttime parade at Disneyland, Paint the Night. If you don’t want us to spoil some of the parade, now might be a good place to stop!
Andrew – So, I guess the place to start is what location did you see Paint the Night at and what were your general thoughts about it?
Cassie – I found a great place to watch Paint The Night sitting pretty much at the base of Matterhorn Mountain. I was able to see everything very well because there were no spectators in front of me. I thought the entire show was incredibly unique, having never seen an evening parade show with so much LIGHT!
What was your favorite float/part of the parade and why?
Andrew – I completely agree about the show being unique. There were an incredible amount of colors and all of the lights were jaw dropping. I had tried to stay away from seeing any spoilers of the parade and been pretty successful so I was amazed by most of the floats. I loved the call backs to the Main Street Electrical Parade while keeping Paint the Night current at the same time. While I’m not a big fan of parades in general, this one blew me away.
As for my favorite float, that’s a pretty tough questions. All of them were spectacular and I didn’t have a clear-cut favorite. I imagine my favorite will change with every viewing. For now I’ll say the Slinky Dog float. The length itself is impressive. Then, when you factor in how they made him look like a slinky through lights was incredible. Lumiere wasn’t one of the main floats but I thought he was very well done as well.
Same question but for you!
Cassie – I was really excited when I saw the giant magical Lumiere. He is one of my favorite characters from my favorite Disney film so I just adored that. However, my favorite float was the Monster Inc. float. The moving doors which collectively exposed a different monster each time they opened were spectacular. The character of Sulley was also so impressive and fun! The whole float really put you into the world of Monster Inc.
Andrew – What did you think of the music in the parade?
Cassie – One of my very favorite parts of Paint the Night was the music. RIght when the tunes began I turned to my friend and said “I bet you anything this is Owl City!” I was a BIG Owl City fan back in 2009ish and could tell right away that they did the soundtrack, and I loved it! I have actually been listening to this link pretty regularly because I cannot get this dang song out of my head! The music was super catchy and a ton of fun!
You?
Andrew – I feel close to the same. While it’s not the type of music that I’d listen to regularly, it is energetic, fun and fits the parade well. The songs were catchy and had a nice mix of Disney, Main Street Electrical Parade, and new music. The main melody will be stuck in my head for months. As far as parades go, this is probably my second favorite parade soundtrack next to Main Street Electrical Parade. I think it will age pretty well over time, which is great.
Were there any parts that were just okay or disappointing to you?
Cassie – The only part that was a tad disappointing to me was due to a wardrobe malfunction with Jessie’s costume during the Toy Story part of the parade. One of her pant sleeves was ripped and the lights on her outfit were not working properly. Poor thing. However, the cast member, in true Disney fashion, never broke character or seemed to let it bother her. Another cast member pulled her aside at one point and tried to help, but Jessie just shook it off and continued to dance! The show must go on, but I do imagine they often experience technical difficulties with all those lights!
How about you?
Also, speaking of costumes, did any characters outfits stand out to you?
Andrew – Yeah, they must have to do a ton of maintenance to be able to do the parade every night! I don’t think I was disappointed in any of it. The new shows used a little bit too much Frozen in my opinion, but that float was beautiful so my real beef is probably with World of Color.
Hmm… Costumes. I’ll let you speak more on this one because, well, you know what you’re talking about more than I do. But, I will say that I was impressed with all of the costumes in general, especially the face characters (the ones without a character head to put on). How they made those costumes to where they could light up the faces of the characters was very impressive and one of the greatest feats of the whole parade. I never once thought, ‘I wish I could see that characters face more’ even though there weren’t any lights directly on the faces.
How about you?
Cassie – The costume for Belle was astronomical. I feel like I can’t even call it a “costume” because it was on such a large-scale. The way they created the entire float around her iconic yellow dress was just magical. I read that her dress contained more decorative light caps than any other float in the parade and had 40 customized designed jewels. Talk about high-wattage! I also loved the way Belle sat upon the length of the skirt, making her look at least eight feet tall. Overall, it was such a beautiful and creative way to display her look.
Andrew – That’s really cool, I didn’t know that.
Last question for this post, is this the best parade you’ve ever seen?
Cassie – I can not think of a parade that I have ever seen that tops Paint the Night. As we move through time and technology grows, shows like Paint the Night are going to continue to push boundaries and make the impossible, possible. While I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the classical Main Street Electrical Parade, I can see Paint the Night eventually becoming a legendary Disneyland classic.
Andrew – I completely agree. While I love the nostalgia of Main Street Electrical and the abstract art behind Festival of Fantasy in Magic Kingdom, neither are as jaw dropping as this parade. I was completely blown away by it.
Next week we’ll be discussing Disneyland Forever, the new fireworks spectacular in Disneyland.
Have you seen Paint the Night? What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments!
Categories: Attraction Reviews
Paint the Night is a good show and I loved the music as well. However, I was a little disappointed but that was probably my fault – I was expecting it to be more like the Main Street Electrical Parade but with LED lights. I didn’t like the “TV screens” they used on the big drum at the beginning or the doors on the Monsters Inc float – it made me feel like I was watching TV and I feel that kids are already overly drawn to TV that it would have been better not to incorporate it in. Some of the technology was really amazing though, like all the lights used in the big rig truck in the Cars section – mind blowing!
I think many people were expecting almost a remake of Main Street Electrical Parade. I’m not sure where that rumor came from (I do think there are several irresponsible Disney blogs out there that just make things up). I understand your point on the TV screens but I thought they fit in pretty well, especially on the Monsters Inc. float. All of the lights are stunning and incredible to look at.